Plastics containing low surface energy polymers, e.g., blends of Nylon and syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS), are seeing growing acceptance as a replacement for denser, hygroscopic plastics such as polybutyleneterephthalate (PBT) and Nylon as substrates in high performance applications such as those found in the electronics and automotive industries. For example, existing adhesives used in the electronics industry suffer from the drawback of having poor adhesion to substrates containing syndiotactic polystyrene. Therefore, there is a need for developing adhesives having improved adhesion to substrates containing sPS while retaining adhesion to a variety of other organic and inorganic substrates.
Furthermore, polyorganosiloxane elastomer adhesives, such as polydimethylsiloxane-based elastomers, are frequently used in the electronics industry for properties such as their thermal stability and ability to relieve stresses over a broad thermal range. However, these adhesives may suffer from the drawback of poor resistance to some organic chemicals, such as solvents and engine oils. Fluorosilicone elastomers and organic elastomers have been used to improve chemical resistance. However, fluorosilicone elastomers suffer from the drawback of having higher cost than polyorganosiloxane elastomers (that are non-fluorinated). One proposed approach to address this is to combine fluorosilicone elastomers with polyorganosiloxane elastomers. However, proposed approach has generally not been used due to concerns that the fluorosilicone and non-fluorinated organosilicone components would phase separate, resulting in unstable properties. Organic elastomers may suffer from the drawback of having insufficient flexibility or bulk thermal properties. Therefore, there is a need in the electronics industry for adhesives having improved chemical resistance while retaining flexibility and bulk thermal properties.